Why We're Wired to Binge-Watch TV

In this age of microblogging, distracting smartphones, 140-character tweets, and compulsive multitasking, it seems a little backward that one of the top post-workday hobbies of young adults is to become completely engrossed for hours on end in the complicated storylines of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and House of Cards.

A new type of consumer has evolved in recent years—the love child of the Couch Potato and the Channel Surfer, raised by streaming devices and nurtured by entire seasons of shows available at the click of a remote.

For just a few dollars a months, subscribers to Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video have access to thousands of streaming movies and TV shows, all updated regularly. And with Netflix's new postplay feature, which prompts viewers to play the next episode just as the credits of the last one begin rolling, it's easier than ever to succumb to the appeal of Walter White and Frank Underwood.

The birth of the binge-watcher has been an intriguing, unexpected development in the past five years. Neuroscience, it turns out, can partially explain the phenomenon.

British psychologist Edward B. Titchener (1867–1927) might have argued that we become glued to complex, emotionally-charged stories because of our ability to recognize the feelings of others. A newly identified phenomenon at the time, Titchener coined the term empathy in 1909. In addition to identifying others' discomfort or elation, "cognitive empathy" examines how humans can also adopt others' psychological perspectives, including those of fictional characters. It's such a universal emotional state that psychological tests (through the use of puppets, pictures, and videos) have even been developed to study empathy in preschool-age children.

Neuroeconomist Paul Zak of Claremont Graduate University set out to examine the science of empathy in storytelling. He showed participants a video about a young boy with terminal cancer, seemingly joyful and completely unaware of his fate. We get the father's perspective too. Although he tries to enjoy his last months with his son, he finds it impossible to be happy.

Zak found that subjects commonly exhibited two emotions after viewing the video: distress and empathy. When a blood sample was taken from participants before and after viewing, both cortisol (a stress hormone) and oxytocin (a hormone associated with human connection and caring) levels were higher after the video. While cortisol correlated with ratings of distress, there was a strong relationship between oxytocin and empathetic feelings.

After watching the video, participants were also given the opportunity to donate money to a stranger in the laboratory, as well as to a charity that helps sick children. In both cases, the amount of cortisol and oxytocin released predicted how much people were willing to share. Zak concluded that these empathetic feelings (that we also apparently act on) are evidence of our compulsions as social beings—even when faced with a fictional narrative.

So it's clear that humans connect emotionally with stories of their kin. But what explains the bingeing? Or why, according to Netflix, did three of four viewers who streamed the first season of Breaking Bad on its platform finish all seven episodes in one session?

Psychologist Uri Hasson of Princeton University pioneered the new field of neurocinematics, the study of how TV and film interact with the brain. In a 2008 study, he and colleagues observed the brain images of participants via fMRI while showing them four video clips of: Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm; Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Alfred Hitchcock's Bang! You're Dead; and a 10-minute, unedited, one-shot video of a Sunday morning concert in New York's Washington Square Park.

Hasson wanted to determine the intersubject correlation (ISC) across all viewers' brains to examine how similarly they'd respond while watching these four very different clips. The Washington Square Park video evoked a similar response in all viewers in only 5 percent of the cortex, while Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly came in at 18 percent and 45 percent, respectively. The Alfred Hitchcock film, however, elicited an ISC of 65 percent.

In other words, compared to the other clips, Bang! You're Dead was able to coordinate the responses of many different brain regions, resulting in simultaneous "on" and "off" responses across participants in 65 percent of the brain. Hasson concluded that the more "controlling" the clip—in other words, showing the viewer exactly what they're supposed to pay attention to—the more focused the audience.

While the one-shot park clip allows viewers to attend to anything they find interesting, Hitchcock was a master of orchestrating everything: what you're watching, what you're thinking, how you're feeling, and what you predict will come next. In similar ways, modern-day TV writers and directors engage viewers worldwide with the flash-forwards of Lost; the gruesome action of Game of Thrones; and the eerie exchanges between Breaking Bad's Gus Fring and Walter White.

In a study by Harris Interactive on behalf of Netflix released in December, 61 percent of 1,500 online respondents claimed to binge-watch Netflix regularly (defined, modestly, as watching at least two or three episodes successively every few weeks). Three-quarters of them reported having positive feelings about the behavior.

Netflix sent cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken into the homes of TV streamers to find out more. McCracken discovered that 76 percent reported bingeing as a welcome refuge from their busy lives, and nearly 8 in 10 agreed that binge-watching a TV show was more enjoyable than watching single episodes. Despite our hectic, digitally-driven lifestyles and 140-character social interactions, McCracken concluded that we're actually craving the long narratives that today's best television series can provide. Instead of dealing with our life's stresses by zoning out, we'd rather become engrossed in an entirely different (and fictional) world.

To ensure that you're not binge-eating and binge-sitting while binge-watching, perhaps you could do what Claire Underwood did for Frank and set up a nifty little rowing machine in front of your screen. Because for the same reasons we're wired to binge-watch TV, our brains also crave a good workout.

However, I don't binge watch TV. My attention span and quick ability to become bored or tired of doing the same things makes it impossible to watch more than two or three episodes of the same show, except if it's a science fiction I'm currently obsessing over. But I'll still only watch a few episodes a day.
I don't have a hectic lifestyle though but I do like to unwind from stress by watching a comedy or drama.
The empathy thing is interesting too. I've noticed some TV shows are so emotional that even I with my autism am able to pick on it at all, and not just that - but actually build on my poor ability to empathise at all.
I also wonder if this is why people like to watch violence and horror? The most popular TV dramas seem to be violent and I've got a weak stomach for it, but most other people might just pick up more of the emotions of the characters rather than violence or horror themes. Emotions can be overwhelming for me too so sometimes I find even the shows I watch to be a bit over the top with emotional story lines sometimes and I can barely tolerate it.

I think that it is important that we pay attention to what sort of media programs we are watching. Some shows which can be very emotionally involving might drain us or make us excited. We have some control over feelings also by choosing which television show to watch out of the many options we have available to us. We also have many ways to inquire about them, more than ever before in the history of cinema and television. Or simply be like me when I watched House of cards and decided that I was going to use it also as a way to learn how to have a thick skin.

I have considered productive and pleasurable moments with the viewing of television shows. I have learned some philosophy, pop culture and facts on my computer while watching Netflix. We should always question information and so with a simple control t for a new tab I can do a little research.

Maybe there are some people who need to watch several hours of a television show all of the time or just sometimes. One of the questions they might want to ask themselves is: “Is it benefiting me in the way I want it to? Is it somehow in sync with my goals in life?” In general, If there is a behavior or habit I develop and which I don’t like I say to myself “does this reflect the person I want to be?”

Binge watching tv is a new term that is being used a lot and let’s keep it to its purest definition without associating other behaviors which are negative like couch potato and binge eating.

Like they suggested in the article, why not exercise? Personally I am not thinking about the initial pain but still creating positive emotions. Eat what you think are tasty foods but slowly and mindfully. If you are tense, a television show can be a good way to relax the mind and body., Learn the practice of being conscientious and use a show as a way to digest better when you are tense but hungry; consequently having more energy.

It is about how we decide to interpret our actions which affect our subconscious.

Being in general mindful, utilizing our different tools creatively and making positive psychological attribution to our actions will also keep us staying happy.

Hi I'm Emily and I am a sophomore at Seton High School. I have a research paper with the topic of "how does binge watching TV effect our social lives". I am interested in this topic because I often times find myself stuck on the couch constantly watching episode after episode. I would like to know if binge watching TV actually does impact our social lives by keeping us in when we should be out being social. Do you think depression and loneliness can also be tied to binge watching television?